Smart Home Hacks
Bedtime lighting
Send the kids to bed with the push of a button by controlling bedroom lighting and the temperature in their rooms – a great novel approach to the “lights off in 15mins” callout.
Alarms
Instead of being alerted by a harsh buzz, start your day with an automatic play of soft music at a set time so you can wake up peacefully and in a positive state of mind every morning.
Midnight bathroom lighting
Rather than leaving lights on all night for when your little ones, elderly parents or guests need to find their way to the bathroom a simple command of “I’m going to the bathroom” can turn on hallway and bathroom lights for a self determined amount of time.
Safety
Never have that dreaded feeling that you’ve left the oven or iron on again. Just select the app on your smart device and control your home’s appliances with the touch of a button.
Forgotten to lock up
Ever gone out and can’t remember if you locked the front door as you were rushing about trying to get the kids ready for school? What if you could ensure all locks were secured and your precious home and content locked from wherever you are? This is all possible with home automation.
No more forgotten house keys
If you accidently lock your keys in the house or your child or spouse has forgotten their keys you can unlock the house for them from your smart device and let them back into the house.
Holiday ruse
While you’re away on holidays, you can still give would be intruders the impression you’re at home by turning lights on and off at different intervals while you’re away. Home safety is just a ‘click’ away with our home automation systems.
Create the perfect ambiance
Come home to welcoming music to suit your mood, the lights on and air conditioner on and the oven-preheating ready for dinner to go in. What a way to start your evening.
Garden and pool maintenance
Keep lawns green, gardens in bloom and pool water filtered and clean with automatic timing and activation all from once device. You can even monitor when your sprinklers or pool cleaning system was last operated.
Voice activated TV
Don’t bother with remotes and flicking through channels, just ask your television to start playing your favourite program.
Energy Saving Hacks
For Your Home
Install energy efficient light bulbs
Which have a longer life as well as reducing your energy costs.
Get solar panels
Produce your own energy rather than paying for it by installing solar panels. Grants are still available to get cheaper or even free panels if you qualify. If your system contributes to the electric grid you won’t pay an energy bill at all. If its not producing enough power, you’ll just use the electricity as normal. Harnessing the sun’s power is a great way to save money and go green. Envested can install the panels for you so there will be no effort for you.
Heating and cooling
If you’re like the average household, you are probably using up to 40% of your energy bill to heat or cool your home. By installing a smart home device you can achieve greater control over your energy usage by ensuring that temperatures remain consistent and heaters and air conditioners are not being used unnecessarily.
Lighting
Did you know that about 6% of the average home’s energy bill comes from lighting? Get into the habit of turning off lights when you leave a room and if you don’t require a lot of light in some rooms, use lamps or spotlights instead. Motion sensors or timers on your security lights will also mean you won’t have to remember to turn them off.
Energy Saving Hacks
For Your Home Business
Heat the hub, not the whole house
If you’re using a heating or cooling system in your home office during the day, make sure you’re only heating or cooling the area you’re working in. Close doors, and use curtains, blinds and draft stoppers to keep your office energy use contained to a single room where possible.
The same rule applies to lighting – you only need to turn on lights in the rooms you’re using.
Choose a laptop
Laptops use as much as 80% less energy than desktop computers because they’re designed to be used without a power source. So, choosing a laptop over a desktop will save you money – and you can take it with you to have coffee too!
Research tax breaks & rebates
Did you know you may be eligible to claim a percentage of your energy bill as a work expense? Other rebates may also be available to you, so do your research and know your entitlements. Contact the Australian Taxation Office, visit their website or talk to your accountant to find out more.
Shut down at the end of the day
Leaving computers and other equipment on standby does use energy. So when you’ve finished for the day, shut everything down and you’ll save on many hours of standby power usage.
